Sure abolish the alcohol/liquor board ways of running a cannabis market,
the alcohol industry is the template for cannabis production and retail. you won't get rid of the board system as that is where the gov't collects the tax revenue and enforces licensing and legislature. gov't boards exist in every alcohol and cannabis market in canada and are never going away.
Allow craft cannabis growers to bring their product to market by creating a grading house system where people interested in selling flower/concentrates they make can bring it to be graded and paid out according to the quality of their product,
something similar already exists. there is a cannabis growers marketing pool here in sask similar to the old wheat pool idea. smaller producers sell into the pool who then markets product to the retailer. it helps put smaller producers on an even footing with larger corporate producers.
the bigger problem is getting the license to produce in the first place, then jumping through all the federal/provincial regulatory and inspection hoops to get a facility built and operating. the cost barrier here to become a craft producer is in the 5 - 6 million dollar cdn range. initially it was much lower, but things have tightened as the industry developed.
it's important to note that "craft cannabis" is not an actual thing. the industry only makes a distinction based on the size of the producer it has nothing to do with perceived quality. that will probably never change, as major producers don't like the distinction, and have successfully argued there is no way to differentiate between craft and other product.
all cannabis products are lumped into one general category, primarily so commercial product can be exported outside of the country.
Then that way everyone has a fair chance to be part of the cannabis industry without prosecution... Also make the cost of obtaining a grow or processing license more attainable to the average home grower.
it's a nice thought but is not at all the way industry and gov't is pushing the cdn market. the cdn marketplace was built in consultation with already existing corporate partners.
Allow people to obtain their cannabis seeds from anywhere not just government ran stores or websites.
in effect that is already the case. everyone is simply trying to find a way to legitimize that side of the market.
People that abuse the system should receive a hefty fine and be banned from growing or producing products for a period of time, Not do jail time, That just cost the rest of us money to keep them locked up,
that is also kind of already happening. loads of larger producers have already been caught growing commercial levels of illegal weed that is diverted into the legal sales stream to maximize profit. the highest penalty has been a fine at most. very few have even had their legal license stripped.
conversely some home growers are at greater risk than ever. look at what is happening in both manitoba and quebec. neither have legal home grow, and prosecutions of home growers there are at levels higher than what was experienced just previous to legal. industry is driving a lot of the legal action to ensure home grow doesn't gain the same foothold as it did in the other parts of the country. they pour money into enforcement, the good news is it won't result in jail unless the grow is a dozen or more plants.
and lastly there should be no plant limit for home growers until your growing at a commercial or industrial level.
that'll never happen. industry has a huge say in what gets to be industrial or commercial. gov't set those limits in direct consultation with industry. there is no way a home grower could ever garner the resources needed to get the minimum licensing and permits required for a commercial level facility.
i like the ideas you present. the time to have fixed all of this is now well past unfortunately. our gov't decided from the get go that legality would be skewed to corporate interests. subsequent gov'ts are not likely to roll that back.
I'm down to only hoping we can maintain a healthy division between church and state!
lol
